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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28484163">two and a half</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfwheeze/pseuds/halfwheeze'>halfwheeze</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>adventures in a building in bed-stuy [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bed-Stuy, Gen, The Building in Bed-Stuy, death mention</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:53:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,015</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28484163</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfwheeze/pseuds/halfwheeze</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint has been gone for two and a half months, and somebody needs to manage this building. </p><p>prequel to a cup with a chip.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clint Barton &amp; Aimee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>adventures in a building in bed-stuy [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2086455</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>two and a half</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>prompted by a friend in the winterhawk olympic bang server - "It's been a while." </p><p>hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div class="">
  <p>It was a hard mission, to tell the truth. Not a lot of them are easy missions of course - most missions end up with at least one death, and there are rarely any missions that happen where that death isn’t a civilian casualty. But this time, it was Clint’s fault. Every single Avenger could argue until they were blue in the face who the fault lied with, because all of them were guilty of something and they all wore it like a winter coat, but this one was Clint’s, and he could take it. It was Clint’s, and all he wanted to do was wallow in the self hatred when Aimee showed up at his door, leaning against the opposite wall like she hadn’t had to knock on it, already looking pissed off to see him. Fair enough. He’d be pissed off to see him too. </p>
</div><p>“It’s been a while, Clint. Thomas, in 3B, his hot water has been fucky for three days. Maggie has been trying to get up with you for a couple of weeks, she needs an exterminator. Simone and the kids are having heating issues. You own the building man. You need to start acting like it,” she said, arms crossed across her chest after she finished signing along. He closed his door behind him and leaned on the wall next to it, making his huge frame smaller - he had been told, once, by Nat maybe, that his height was something that made it harder for women to talk to him, to stand their ground easily. He wanted to make it easier for Aimee. He was already at least ten inches taller than her at 6′3, so he might as well try to cut down some of the distance. </p><p>“Aimee, I’m really sorry, I know, I’m sorry,” he swore, meaning every word of it. Aimee gave him a rueful smile. </p><p>“You just got home, I know,” she said, sighing. Everyone usually left Clint alone for the first day, and she must have been waiting to catch him whenever she could, to have caught him so quickly. The only one who had ever caught him before was <em>Grills, </em>and as far as Clint knew, Grills didn’t sleep at all. </p><p>“Doesn’t mean I can just avoid the shit I’ve left you with for a month and a half, does it?” he asked, sliding down the wall to sit. She sat down with him, thought she did it with a little more grace. Once settled, she spoke again. </p><p>“It’s been longer than that, Hawkguy,” she said, and she looked a lot more tired all of the sudden, a lot more like she didn’t want to be having this conversation either. He tried to do math in his head, count back how long it had been since he had really been <em>home, </em>but he had no idea, really. He stayed in the tower way too often for comfort, </p><p>“How long?” he asked, afraid of the answer, afraid to know exactly how much he had fucked up with Aimee. She frowned. </p><p>“It’s not been -” she tried to back peddle, but he shook his head.</p><p>“How long this time, Aimee?” he repeated, needling. She sighed. </p><p>“Shit. Two and a half, maybe?” He scrubbed a hand down his face. Two and a half months? That’s nearly a quarter. That’s nearly long enough to need a quarter inspection for the building. He couldn’t do this alone anymore. He had too much to do, not enough time, not enough resources, he was no Tony Stark, no Captain America, he was only Hawkeye, the hero of Bed-Stuy. Barely anybody’s hero. </p><p>“I’m so sorry. I'll hire a building manager,” he promised, cradling his head in his hands. He looked up when he heard Aimee snort. </p><p>“What so some corporate fuckwit can come in and skim off the top and make all the girls uncomfortable when you’re not looking? Not a chance,” she said acerbically. She was right, of course. He had bought the building to keep it <em>away </em>from people like that, he wasn’t gonna give it right back and pay them to do it too. </p><p>“What about you?” he offered, the gears churning in his head. Aimee would be the perfect fit for it. She collected grievances like love letters to pile at his doorstep, leaky faucets fixed before he ever heard about them, but things like heat and hot water saved for last like unwanted love confessions. He didn’t miss the way that she gasped. </p><p>“Me?” she asked, looking at him with disbelief clear on her face. He grinned, half manic and half surefire. He had never been too sure of much in his life, but he was pretty sure of Aimee. </p><p>“You. Everyone comes to you for everything anyway. You’re personable, you’re handy, everybody likes you. I kill your rent, give you a building budget for repairs, pay you whatever building managers get paid besides the rent thing, and you can still do your job whenever you’re not doing building stuff. Come on, Aims, manage the building. I’ll give you Tony Stark money to manage the building,” Clint wheedled her with the last bit, knowing that the last bit would send her over. The punk in her wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to misuse a billionaire’s cash. Aimee contemplated for a moment, pursed her lips, and stood from leaning against the wall. </p><p>“I want your secret number. I know you have two phones. I don’t just want the one everyone has, I want the Avenger one too. I don’t care about security. I want it,” she said, and wow. He actually had three phones, but okay. He nodded anyway, and handed her the one he was pretty sure she was talking about, unlocked, and let her add herself as a contact anyway. He hauled himself off of the floor, completely unrepentant of his creaking bones (he’s 27, goddamn it, he shouldn’t creak near so much as he does), and helps Aimee up as well. </p><p>“This is the beginning of a very beautiful business arrangement, Miss Raines.” </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>prompt me @primekent on tumblr!</p><p>feel free to c*mmission me!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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